The worst municipality in the Province was Joe Morolong, which took 190th place in the country

No municipalities in the Province were listed in the list of the bottom 20 municipalities.

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THE SOL Plaatje Municipality in Kimberley has claimed the fourth highest spot in the Top 20 municipalities in the country, according to Good Governance Africa’s Government Performance Index.

According to the report, released yesterday, the Sol Plaatje Municipality is not the only municipality in the Province to make it on the Top 20 list. Others on the list are the Khâi-Ma Municipality (Namaqua) in seventh position, Hantam, listed as 17th, followed by Nama Khoi, which came in at 18 position.

No municipalities in the Province were listed in the list of the bottom 20 municipalities.

The report was compiled by Good Governance Africa (GGA), a registered Pan-African, non-profit organisation.

GGA’s ranking of South Africa’s municipalities covers 205 local and eight metropolitan municipalities. Data was gathered on 15 indicators across three themes: administration, economic development and service delivery.

Administration is defined as a governance category that demonstrates whether there are sufficient numbers of personnel with the requisite qualifications; indicates proof of proper or improper financial management; and assesses whether municipalities comply with the guidelines for the annual reports as specified by the relevant authorities. The indicators in this category include: municipal capacity, financial soundness and compliance.

Economic development looks at the attractiveness of the municipality for economic opportunities, investments and habitation. The indicators identified to measure economic opportunity are poverty (the percentage of households with an income below R2 300 per month), individual income (the percentage of the population that receives some form of monthly income, including social grants), work opportunities and unemployment rate.

Service delivery reflects the performance of the municipality. The indicators measuring service delivery are water, sanitation, education, electricity, housing, refuse removal, health facilities and police coverage.

The GGA’s 2019 national ranking of South Africa’s municipalities shows that the top three performing municipalities are Mossel Bay (Western Cape), Senqu (Eastern Cape) and Swartland (Western Cape).

The top performer, Mossel Bay, is led by the DA and the municipality ranked second, Senqu is ANC-led.

The majority (60%) of the municipalities in the Top 20 are in the Western Cape – Mossel Bay, Swartland, Bergrivier, Cape Agulhas, Prince Albert, Swellendam, Cederberg, Matzikama, Overstrand, Witzenberg, Hessequa and Langeberg.

All except three of these municipalities are DA-led.

The Northern Cape has the second highest number of municipalities in the Top 20, namely Sol Plaatje, Khâi-Ma, the ANC-led Hantam Local and Nama Khoi, which is a coalition between the ANC and the KSR. Hantam was previously run by a DA-Cope coalition.

Gauteng has one municipality in the Top 20, Midvaal, which is DA-led, while Greater Kokstad is the only KwaZulu-Natal municipality in the Top 20. It is ANC-led.

In the bottom 20, nine municipalities are from KZN, six from the Eastern Cape, two from the North West and one from Limpopo and Mpumalanga. The majority (85%) of the bottom 20 municipalities are ANC-led, while three of the bottom 20 municipalities are IFP-led.

According to the report, Khâi-Ma in the Northern Cape has the highest number (60.7%) of people who have individual monthly incomes.

Provincially, the Northern Cape ranked third out of the nine provinces. A total of 64.6% of residents in the Province have access to flushing toilets, while 87.4% have access to electricity and 45.7% have access to piped water.

In terms of the number of people per police station, the Northern Cape came in third in the country, while it also came third in terms of the number of people who had access to medical facilities.

The worst municipality in the Province was Joe Morolong, which took 190th place in the country.

Sol Plaatje Municipal spokesperson Sello Matsie yesterday welcomed the report, adding that it had come at a time when the municipality was facing serious challenges including a shortfall on its budget.

“Despite these difficulties, however, we have, with the support of other stakeholders like National Treasury, still managed to be one of the top municipalities in the country. This is something we welcome and we give the community the reassurance that we will continue to strive to give our best and continue to improve where necessary.”